1. Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a protocol conversion apparatus and a protocol conversion method which may easily perform protocol conversion between appliances using different communication protocols.
2. Description of the Related Art
A communication protocol may be various communication rules and methods to facilitate information exchange between devices. The protocol defines a connection or transmission mode between devices, a communication mode, a format of data to be transmitted, an error detection mode, a code conversion mode, transmission speed, etc.
In general, since different types of devices have different communication protocols, protocol conversion is required to perform communication between different types of devices. Especially, in a smart grid environment where various types of appliances exist such as a Home Energy Management System (HEMS) and a Building Energy Management System (BEMS), protocol conversion is required for interworking between appliances. Here, a smart grid is an intelligent power network which optimizes energy efficiency by networking energy-consuming appliances so that power suppliers and power consumers exchange information bi-directionally in real-time.
A smart grid system includes a plurality of power consuming appliances and a power management device to manage power consumed in the appliances. The power management device may include a protocol conversion apparatus which performs protocol conversion for interworking between various appliances. Requirements for the smart grid system may vary according to temporal/spatial changes, and new services may be added or existing services may be modified depending on new requirements A protocol conversion apparatus may be modified according to newly added or modified services.
However, it may be difficult to modify conventional protocol conversion apparatuses due to high dependency between the apparatuses and appliances. Accordingly, it is costly to develop and maintain conventional protocol conversion apparatuses.
Further, conventional protocol conversion apparatuses have a limit on the number of appliances they may accommodate, so that they may not be flexible in dealing with such a situation.